


The Sun & The Ruler

by 100percentSnark



Category: Miami Vice (TV)
Genre: Angels, Gen, crackish, inspired partly by supernatural, unrefined fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-12
Updated: 2014-04-12
Packaged: 2018-01-19 01:39:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1450558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/100percentSnark/pseuds/100percentSnark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sonny and Rico meet an angel. Weird shit ensues. Somewhat inspired by Supernatural, although I haven't seen much of the show so my angel lore is probably very different, AND Annaphiela has no relation to the angel Anna in the series.<br/>Based off a dream.... that became a drabble.... Not updated regularly, so, don't hold your breath.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Red Sky In Morning

There was a brilliant flash of light; a silent explosion. Annaphiela stood hesitantly, on legs that were new to the earth, and looked around in the early morning sunlight. She wasn’t sure what she had done to become earthbound...there was a feeling that it was not punishment, but there was no clear sense of purpose, either. Nothing seemed to be drawing her in one direction or another. She picked a direction at random and began to walk, mulling over her appearance in this world.

The air was muggy, and the smell of seasalt pervaded the air, as well as the sharp tang of the mingling smell of fresh and spoiling fish. Annaphiela had never seen the sea, much less any of the lands of earth, and eagerly surveyed her surroundings, wandering along the industrial land that she found herself in, stepping up curbs, meandering diagonally through yet uninhabited store’s parking lots, and trespassing unwittingly through the yards of waterfront homes. She paused in front of the window to a closed shop, admiring the clothes there. She liked her new clothes. It probably wouldn’t do to walk around without any. Though she didn’t know where she was going, she had a feeling she should keep walking.

 

Not many miles away, a police officer was waking up to the same sun shining through the windows of his house-yacht. Vice detective Sonny Crockett pushed the sheets off himself and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, running a hand through his unkempt hair. He picked his watch off the bedside table, noting the time as he affixed it to his wrist. It was nice to be able to sleep in, actually...as far as the term meant to him. The week had been busy with operations and stakeouts, and Sonny finally felt like he was catching up on some much needed sleep. Rico was likely doing the same, having spent at least 36 hours awake on a particularly taxing case. Sonny had begged Rico to go home and get some sleep, but the case must have struck a chord with his partner, who had worked tirelessly to see the conclusion a happy one. Rico’s tireless pursual of his case had awarded him with a particularly nasty cough, one that the doctor had assured him would pass in a couple of weeks time. Sonny wasn’t bothered about catching the cough, but he hoped it would teach Rico a lesson...don’t drive too hard onto cases.

Throughout this stream of thought, Sonny had dressed himself and ascended the stairs to the deck of the boat, where his alligator basked in the still-young sunlight. The distant clouds were red, and though the sea seemed calm, Sonny wondered briefly if there wasn’t some inclement weather on approach later that day.

Sonny stepped over to the dock, heading for the parking lot of the boatyard, when a voice interrupted the peaceful sounds of water lapping at the yacht’s sides. “Ahhhh Sonny! Good morning, huh? I thought you might want the, ehehe, early scoop.”

“Izzy, come off it, your intel has been shit these past few weeks. Think you might want to rethink your...business practices.” Sonny said, pushing past.

“Ehhh but ees PRIME news, Sonny! Prime.”

“Talk fast,” Sonny replied, walking away. Izzy followed quickly, trying to sum up his ‘prime news’.

“There’s a new guy in town -- Goes by the name Florecs. He’s muscling in on my, ehehm, business, mang! Not only that but you could tell he’s using that capital for his own shot at the lordship of the recreationals, you know mang?”

“That’s a commonality around here, amigo.”

“I’m not finished yet, though...rumour has it… he’s putting out hits on the usurpers to the crown, mang. He’s got his sights on being dictator of dope, mang.”

“Izzy. What the hell does this have to do with-- unless you mean he’s out for Burnett?” Sonny put his sunglasses to his face as he neared the Testarossa.

“Oh yeah mang, that was the point I was getting to. He’s after all the big names, and you’ve gotten yourself a big name now.”

“Damn it, I knew I should have stuck to transport only...thanks Iz. I’ll keep my guard up.” He sat in the drivers seat of the car as Izzy hovered outside.

“No problem mang, I have one more piece for you, though,”

“Yeah?” The car started. Izzy looked bashful as he handed Sonny a little bundle tied with twine.

“Ees for Rico. Heard he was feelin’ under the weather so...this is a get well gift.”

Sonny set the bundle in the passenger seat, chuckling. “Sure, man. As long as whatever you got in there isn’t something you shouldn’t give a police officer, I’ll pass it along.”

 

\----

 

Annaphiela had wandered herself to a freeway, and was marveling from the hillside at the quickly moving cars. She had a general sense about their application to the people of the world, and knew they were dangerous to be near at speeds like that...though, more for the car, than for her. She would like to try riding in one, she decided to herself.

 

\----

 

Sonny resisted the temptation of opening the gift for Rico, figuring it was probably something offbeat that would be funnier for the two of them to discover later. The traffic on the freeway was somewhat heavy for a Tuesday, and Sonny wondered if there was an accident further along that was putting a hold on things. He flipped his turn signal on, intending to take an exit off and see if it wouldn’t be faster to wait on traffic lights than stopped cars…

 

\----

 

Annaphiela found herself inside one of the cars on the freeway, a small cloth wrapped bundle in her lap. She looked down at it curiously, then looked over to the driver, and was met with astonished yelling. “What in the-- fuck!” The man next to her turned the wheel sharply, moving the car into another lane. Removing one hand from the wheel, he extracted his firearm from it’s holster under his arm and held it at the ready. Annaphiela made no movements in response to this. He checked his surroundings, then gunned the engine and took the closest exit off, pulling over almost immediately. “How in the hell did you…? What the fuck...how did you get in here?”

Annaphiela lifted the bundle in her lap to show Sonny. “Is this yours?” She asked.

 

Sonny briefly became at a loss for words, failing to articulate either an answer to the girl’s absurd question, or a further demand as to her presence in the car. He took a breath. “Who are you?”

 

Annaphiela lowered the package. “I am Annaphiela, Angel from the Third Call Echelon.” She replied. “And you are…...Sonny Crockett, a Detective of Vice for the Police of the Miami-Dade Area, of Florida--”

“Ahaha, who the fuck are you?” The hair on Sonny’s neck stood up, and a strange feeling welled in his stomach. “Angel of _what_?”

“The Third Call Echelon...it is perhaps similar to your line of work.”

“...angel.”

“Are you unfamiliar with the entities your kind call angels?”

 

Sonny sighed and replaced his gun in it’s holster, his intuition telling him it wasn’t going to be necessary. Somehow, a mental patient had managed to sneak into his car. He wondered if it had been while Izzy was distracting him? How could that have happened? “Okay, lady. I know what angels are.” But how had she known who he was? “Get out of the car,” he ordered. “You had better be unarmed.”

“I possess only these two arms,” Annaphiela said, using one of them to open the door to the Testarossa. Sonny followed suit and walked around to her side, blocking her escape somewhat hypocritically. “I hope I have not upset you,” Annaphiela started, hands spread in a peaceful manner. “I only wished to see what it would be like to ride inside a car,”

“Okay…” Sonny said slowly, unsure of how to handle someone so clearly out of their mind. “Do you know where you came from? Is anyone looking for you? What … what is your real name?”

Annaphiela considered all of the detectives questions, intending to answer them as truthfully as she could. “I...came from heaven,” She replied to the first question. “I do not know if anyone is looking for me. I do not think anyone is looking for me, however.” Sonny stopped her.

“You’re not from Heaven,” He scoffed, almost laughing. “You’re not an angel.”

“You do not believe me?” Annaphiela was taken aback. She wasn’t entirely sure how she expected people to react, but she would have expected less resistance. “It is the truth. I remember as much as my role and rank,” she stated matter-of-factly.

Sonny wasn’t explicitly religious, but he wasn’t looking to play along with this girl’s delusion. “I don’t believe you. I just want to know what your full name is, and where you live.” He stopped himself from adding something about loony-bins. “I’d also like to know how you know who I am,”

“I do not know how I know you. I think perhaps because you are my First Contact.”

“......Alright, whatever. Get back in... We’ll sort this out at the station.”

“Okay,”

Sonny warily returned to the driver’s seat of the car and waited for the girl to get back in. She stood there, looking at him curiously. He motioned to the passenger seat.

“I would rather not prove myself to anyone other than my First Contact,” She said, unmoving.

“You don’t have to prove anything, just get in.” He sighed. “We’re just going to see if anyone has put out a missing persons for you, or if anyone can ID your face.”

Annaphiela returned to her spot in the car slowly, resettling the gift on her lap gently. Sonny looked at it, but said nothing. He drove the car off the shoulder and started back onto the freeway, where it seemed the traffic was letting up.

 

Rico had his feet on his desk, something he didn’t normally do. He flipped through his case papers, coughing occasionally, and looking up whenever he heard the doors opening. Crockett was late...that wasn’t normally like him, especially since he’d had an early night last night.

Finally, the sound of the doors opening was caused by Rico’s partner, preceded by a young woman, who took in her surroundings eagerly.

“Who’s this?” Rico inquired, taking his feet off the desk.

“I am Annaphiela, Angel from the Third Call Echelon,” she introduced herself before Sonny could, and then held out a small wrapped bundle. “This is yours,” she offered.

“Ugh, it’s...well, yeah, Rico, that is yours,” Sonny said, steering the girl over to his desk chair and pushing her gently down into it. “Well, I picked up a stray,” Sonny joked to his partner, who held up his gift inquisitively. “It’s actually...Izzy dropped by this morning to give me a tip, and told me to pass that on to you since he heard you were sick.”

“Is that man stalking me? Hunh. What is it?” Rico asked, diverting his attention to the girl, who was studying him with an intense look in her eyes. “Who are you again?”

“No, don’t--” Sonny started, before sighing loudly over the girl’s response.

“Annaphiela of the Third Call Echelon,” She offered eagerly. “Your friend does not believe in angels,” She added.

Rico laughed. “You did pick up a stray, didn’t you?”

“I brought her here to see if there was a missing persons out for her,” Sonny explained. “She...somehow got into my car,” he admitted.

“Sonny,” Rico started in a joking tone, “Are you picking girls up off the streets in your free time?”

“Pfft. I can’t figure it out. I was _sure_ it was just me and Izzy this morning -- by the way he apparently had some interesting news -- and I noticed her in the car on the freeway about a half an hour ago.”

“I apologize in bringing you trouble,” Annaphiela interrupted, frowning. “I simply wished to know what a car was like,”

Rico pulled a pad of paper towards himself and selected a pen. “Tell us what you remember from this morning. Do you have a full name?”

“A full name? We do not tend to use a surname, we are of the same origin.”

“We?”

“Perhaps you could consider an echelon to be acceptable as a surname. You may call me Annaphiela Thirdcall, if it would make calling me easier for you?”

Sonny sighed again. “This is honestly about as much as I got out of her, buddy. We’re better off sending out a missing persons inquiry.” He picked up and dialed the phone, turning away from the two to concentrate on the phone conversation.

“We’ll call you Anna for now,” Rico told the girl. She seemed satisfied to hear it and sat quietly, her eyes roving the office interior with great interest. Rico proceeded on opening his bundle from Izzy, struggling with the knots tied in the twine that was binding the fabric. Anna tilted her head, curious to see what was inside the bundle. She held her hands out to Rico, offering him the small jar that had appeared in her hands. “What’s this?”

Anna looked at the jar, unsure of it’s contents, as Rico finished opening the bundle. Inside was a jar exactly like the one Anna held in her hand. He plucked it from it’s wrappings, brow furrowed. “Sonny,” he said quietly.

Sonny finished up his phone conversation, and was returning farewells to the person on the other end before he turned back to the two.

“Did Izzy give...Anna a gift too?” Rico asked, displaying the small jar alongside the girl’s. Sonny leaned down to look, shaking his head.

“What do you mean?” He asked.

“Well...hm. Anna, did you open this and re-tie it?” Rico asked, studying the jar she held, looking perplexed. Anna shook her head.

“I wanted to see what was within,” She admitted. “Do you want it?”

Rico shook his head. “No that’s okay, you can keep it...I wonder where Izzy got this. It looks safe enough,” He said jokingly.

Anna had opened her jar and dipped a finger in to taste. “It is good. You will not stop coughing when you eat this but it tastes sweet,” She reported to them. Rico set his jar aside, coughing slightly due to Anna’s reminder of it.

“Yeah, if only it would be so easy. I wish I could get rid of this cough,”

 

Anna moved with a swiftness that neither of the detectives anticipated, appearing to lunge forward at Rico, and stopping dead with her left hand pointed at his throat. “Whoa! Back off!” Rico said, instinctually grabbing Anna by the wrist and pushing her away.

“You will not cough any more,” Anna replied, allowing herself to be pushed back away from Rico.

“How long do we have to keep an eye on her?” Rico said weakly, rubbing his throat, which had mysteriously ceased tickling.

“There’s a call out, now. We should know by this afternoon,” Sonny assured his partner.

“We have to keep track of her until the afternoon?!” Rico exclaimed, coming around to Sonny’s realization of how crazy she was.

“Make the best of it,” Sonny replied ruefully.

 

\---

 

The detectives had opted to take the cadillac, as it had more room for their ward. They were en-route to find Noogie for a second opinion on Izzy’s news, since it wasn’t too dangerous a police errand for a civilian to tag along on. Anna sat in the back, enjoying the breeze as a dog might, and was having a hard time keeping seated, despite Sonny’s explanation that people normally remain seated inside moving cars.

“At least she’s having fun,” Rico mused, steering the caddy one-handed, and hanging his other arm over the door.

“If she jumps out,” Sonny cautioned. “It’s not going to be very fun,”

“I will remain seated,” Anna promised again from the back seat.

 

Lacking the opportunity to talk privately, Sonny decided to risk it while Anna seemed to be newly distracted with watching objects move past at high speed.

“I don’t understan how she got into the ‘rossa, Tubbs.” He said, as loud as he dared, glancing furtively at the so-called angel in the back seat. “It was like one moment she wasn’t there, and the next I looked over, she had appeared. Scared the bejesus out of me.”

Rico watched Anna whip her head around trying to look at her surroundings in his rear view mirror, somewhat amused by the crazy girls behaviour. It seemed like she lived a sheltered life. “Maybe she’s got angel powers,” Rico offered, grinning.

“Bullshit.” Crockett responded flatly. “She offered to prove it, though.” He added, a half-smile on his face.

“I _can_ prove it. Do you want me to prove it in front of him?” Anna had stuck her face in-between the front seats of the car, and looked pointedly from Sonny to Rico. “You may decide, as the First Contact.”

Rico looked at Sonny quizzically. “Don’t even ask,” Sonny replied to the look. Rico shrugged, then slowed the car as they approached their destination, a beach-side crab shack that proved to be one of Noogie’s favourite spots to eat and skeeze.

“How will you prove it?” Rico inquired. Anna didn’t answer, but instead looked at Sonny, who sighed in exasperation.

“Look, Anna, anything you tell me is going to make it’s way to Rico eventually. Just treat the both of us as your “First Contact” or whatever.” Anna nodded obediently, unphased by the tone Sonny had used with her.

“I will show you…” She started, as Rico parked the car. “...when we are on the St. Vitus Dance.” She finished.

Sonny and Rico stopped dead in the middle of exiting the car. “How,” Tubbs began, then stopped. “Sonny, this girl is starting to freak me out.”

“Whoever you are,” Sonny said coldly, “And whoever you’re working for, if that’s what it comes down to,” He looked at Anna, face hard. “You’re not doing a very good job at getting rid of the competition.”

Anna looked genuinely confused. “Competition…?”

“Rico, you go find Noogie. I _thought_ she was mostly harmless up until this point. At the very least, she’s a good actor.”

Rico nodded and closed the car door after himself, studying Anna intently as he headed towards the crab shack.

“It is an interesting name, the name of your watercraft,” Anna said, trying to make polite conversation. “Those who dance until they die,” she continued, oblivious to the effect it had on Sonny.

“Who sent you?” Sonny interrupted. “Stop with the mental patient act already. Just give it up.”

“I do not know who sent me. Perhaps the Third Call Echelon sent me for a purpose, but did not tell me. For now I will stay with my First Contact...until a Sign presents itself, or until the Call instructs me to do otherwise.”

Sonny wasn’t sure if she spoke in code, or if she truly was crazy. But her comments and her knowledge of him and his surroundings was a huge source of suspicion. His gut feeling was jumbled up, and he felt almost sick. “Would you object to detainment at the station until we figure out your situation?” He asked suddenly.

“If that is what you would like,” Anna replied amiably.

“That’s the only thing I can think of, if you refuse to cooperate with me,” He told her.

“I will cooperate with you to the best of my abilities,” Anna said, questioningly. “Am I not being helpful?”

“No...you’ve been an annoyance, mostly,” Sonny replied.

Anna seemed to be hurt at the comment. “I am sorry. Do you want me to leave?”

“No. You’re staying here until we get back to the station. You could make things so much easier for me if you’d just tell me who you are, really, but you seem intent on being mysterious.”

“I am trying to be as truthful as possible. I believe if you would let me give you the proof I have to offer, you will understand.” Anna sat in the back seat quietly, watching the back of Sonny’s head as he watched her in the rear view mirror, not meeting his eyes - as if she didn’t understand the concept of the mirror..

“You want to go to the St. Vitus Dance?”

“I will be able to give you adequate proof there in relative privacy,” She replied quietly, seeming somewhat subdued. “I did not know there would be such resistance.”

 

Sonny drummed his fingers on the car door armrest as he turned over his thoughts. He had begun to rely more and more on gut feelings, and even though he knew that he shouldn’t, there was something strange and, well, it seemed almost appropriate to humor the girl.  He sat up straighter when he noticed Rico heading back, coming to a conclusion...Which was, he had nothing better to do at the moment, and he wasn’t particularly keen on hanging around the station until noon. Rico shook his head when he saw that Sonny had caught sight of him, then offered an explanation as he got back into the drivers seat. “Not there. Owner said Noogie wasn’t welcome there anymore, but seemed intent on stalling me...I think he slipped out the back.”

Sonny pursed his lips. “Well, the guy’s not too hard to catch, even when he doesn’t want to be caught.” He nodded in the direction of Anna. “She says she’ll have proof for us at the boat,”

“No, I think the proof better be on our terms,” Rico said, reading Sonny’s ‘let’s-see-where-this-leads expression, and mentally shrugging. “Can we do that?”

“....yes,” Anna replied eventually. “But I do not wish to alarm anyone. I wish it to be only you... two…. to witness.”

Sonny shrugged. “This better explain a whole hell of a lot,” he said. “Any idea as for location, Tubbs?”

“Well, if she wants to see a boat, we could go to the docks nearest here. Probably not many people sailing today, with the weather advisory -- by the way, there’s supposed to be a storm rolling in.”

“Yeah, red sky in morning,” Sonny acknowledged the cloudy horizon. “Well, let’s get this over with.”

  


\---

 

The trio in the car pulled away from the curb and in the direction of the docks. The person with the binoculars wasn’t sure who the girl in the back seat was, but a couple more heads didn’t matter...as long as Burnett was put to an end. The docks were good...they would be the perfect place to steal a boat to dump the bodies.

 

\----

  


The clouds on the horizon gathered, taller and taller, as Rico and Sonny escorted Anna out towards the deserted wooden platforms, looking around warily. The tide was coming in, and the water lapped greedily at the damp walkways, and Anna peered over the edges of the docks to the dark waters below. She seemed at ease, though the men on either side of her were clearly uncomfortable. Sonny’s hand strayed near his holster, while Rico wasn’t subtle about it at all with his shotgun in hand.

Anna moved away from the pair, out closer to the end of the dock, but suddenly came walking back. “No!” She cried, tugging on Sonny’s arm, her hand insistent on his wrist. “No, we are no longer alone.”

 

She was right. A shot rang out from somewhere near where they had parked, grazing a wooden pole meant for tying up boats. The wood splintered wetly, and the two detectives dodged into the nearest boat, pulling Anna with them. “WHO’S FOLLOWING US?” Crockett demanded, gun out. “Who’s the assassin? How many people has Florecs got out on us?”

Anna stood up in the boat, then was pulled down roughly by Rico. “We’re not fucking around here, _Anna_. What’s going on?”

“We...aren’t alone…” She said quietly. “Why are they intent on killing you?” She wondered.

“That’s what I’d like to know,” Sonny spat, unable to return fire. “We’re pinned here until this boat sinks from the damned bullet holes.”

Anna tried to stand up again. “Would you STOP?” Rico said. “Are you trying to get shot? If you’re with them, tell them to stop shooting!”

“I do not know who they are. But I can stop them.”

“What? You stay the hell down, do you hear me?”

...but Anna was suddenly _gone_ , the floor where she’d been merely warm from her proximity.

“What the fuck…?”

 

The bullets stopped moments later. Tubbs and Crockett kept their cover, hesitant. Crockett poked his head up quickly to look around, then ducked back down again. “I don’t...see anything,” He said. He readied his gun and moved back up to the dock, slowly advancing towards dry land, ready to spring back into a boat for cover, or into the water if that was his last resort. He spotted Anna, standing alone, at the edge of the dock and the concrete connecting to it. She was watching Sonny benevolently. “Tubbs,” he called. “Think it’s clear,”

The two moved towards Anna quickly but on edge, and paused a couple of steps away from her.

“What...what happened?” Rico asked.

“To cleanse of sin,” Anna said slowly, though not to Rico, “To cleanse of wrongdoing,” She seemed to be repeating a mantra, her eyes on the ground. “Take in hand your blade, turn holy wrath outwards,” she spread her arms slightly and looked up at them, a peculiar look on her face. Sonny and Rico took subconscious steps backwards, pushed back by the invisible intensity Anna seemed to be radiating. “ _With light, do away with dark._ ”

“Was that...your proof?” Sonny asked quietly, lowering his gun. Rico followed suit, a shocked look on his face.

“No,” Anna replied, barely loud enough for them to hear her. “This is my proof.”

 

Perhaps at that moment the clouds had blotted out the sun, but it was apparent that Annaphiela was now radiating a light of her own in addition to an almost oppressing wave of power. Rico and Sonny found their breath caught in their throats as before them the girl revealed a blinding set of white wings -- _angel wings?_ \-- half unfurled and framing the righteous looking pose that Anna had assumed. She spread her wings out to their full length, letting them catch the sea breeze and lift her off the ground majestically, where she floated in the halo of light she was throwing out. Then, as suddenly as she had revealed herself...she was on the ground, on her knees, a look of pain on her face. Her wings had vanished.

 

The detectives rushed to her side, adrenaline pumping through both their heads, hearts beating quickly and heavily.

“But….why?” Was all Rico could manage.

 

“I...do not know,” Anna replied weakly. “My power… is being held from me…” She gasped, her body lolling over. Sonny threw an arm underneath her, barely keeping her from sprawling completely on the sandy dock. “Have I...done the wrong thing…?” She opened her eyes wide, and stared heaven-ward, blind to everything else. The storm rumbled ominously as Anna seemed to faint, her widened eyes rolling backwards into her head and her body going limp.

 

\----

 

The man with the gun found himself in the gray abyss, as exposed as the day he was born. The abyss stretched on infinitely in all directions, yielding nothing to his frantic eyes. He sank to his knees as darkness pressed down on him, a scream ripped from his lungs as he was unmade.

  
Elsewhere, in a club in Miami’s downtown, a man crosses paths with a shadow, the greed in his heart fueling the power to make his dreams a reality.


	2. Intrinsics and Intuition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter...I try to piece together my angel lore. I don't know what I'm doing. This has been sitting in my drafts for months and is unfinished, but I don't think I'll be continuing this fic for a while I'M SORRY

Crockett paced the narrow hallway that made up the kitchen of his houseboat, throwing glances to the unconscious girl -- _angel?_ \-- on the hastily made bed. He knew going back to the St. Vitus had been a terrible move after just being attacked by an unknown party, but he and Rico were at a loss. They had never run into anything quite like the enigma they were dealing with at the moment. Sonny ran a hand through his hair. “In the last 24 hours, how could anyone have drugged us?” He asked, taking up the thread of conversation he had dropped moments before starting to pace. “It couldn’t have been Izzy--?” He asked, looking somewhat desperately at Rico, who leaned against a counter near the bed. Rico shrugged and played with the pendant of his necklace, dealing with his shock in his own way.

“Whatever happened on that dock…” He started but did not finish. Sonny continued to pace in a harried silence. Anna continued to be senseless to the material world.

 

\----

 

_You must guide them, protect them... until they can face the shadowed ones. The forces opposing us grow as we idle here... Your First Contact must be the ones to cleanse, to use their power, their knowledge, to bring holy justice to the Pestilence...But you must not display your power again. We will withhold it from you - or the Pestilence will know you seek It out, and It will flee from the beacon of your approach._

_This is your test. Your Reckoning._

 

Annaphiela...powerless? What good is an angel on earth, reduced to nothing? Humanity was hallowed...but a powerless angel…that was very close to being Fallen... being cast out...

 

_This is not punishment, this is your protection. We will allow you your Sword, your Shield, and your Intrinsics...but you must not reach for any more than that. The Sun and The Leader are your true power, now. They will show you the way to unlock the Higher Arts once again, when you need it...and then, too, you shall see your path._

_Now rise. Your job yet dawns young._

\----

 

“The Sun…. The Leader….”

 

It had become twilight, and the storm was rearing it’s head. The St. Vitus Dance rocked against it’s tethers, more than would be comfortable for anyone who wasn’t used to the boat, and when Anna awoke, she awoke to the confusing sensation of movement.

“What is happening?!” She shrilled, disoriented, for once seeming more human than supernatural; she looked fragile and lost. Sonny sat bolt upright where he had been dozing off, Rico having gone home before the storm rained in his car.

Sonny reached a hand out, but did not touch Anna. “You’re… You’re OK. You’re safe. We’re on the Vitus.”

Anna’s features calmed, and her eyes went distant for a moment. She hadn’t acknowledged Sonny yet, and instead was mumbling to herself. “The sunlight…? A king…? I cannot see…My..my Sight...”

Sonny opened his mouth, but held his tongue as Anna turned her distant gaze towards him and suddenly focused in the present, fixing him with intense eyes.

“Yes...you are the sunlight...it is in your name and essence, I can see this. And your friend, a king away from his island, avenging the true king, his beloved brother.” She nodded slowly, her stare losing some of it’s focus to become distant once more. “But you are both  also darkness….No...not in truth...merely veiled, disguised…” She trailed off.

Sonny cleared his throat gently, feeling more like he had earlier...like he’d rescued a mental patient. A holy mental patient, it seemed. “You’ve been out for some time,” he offered, unsure as to whether or not Anna was even paying him any mind. “That was, aha, quite the display back there. What happened?”

Anna closed her eyes slowly, then proceeded to blink a couple of times, as if encouraging tears to stop, although she didn’t look sad. She smiled at Sonny, seeing him for the first time. He would not know, but he was sunlight. It radiated from him as light had radiated from Anna as she Banished the stranger with the gun to protect her First Contact...her First Contacts. She wondered silently how she hadn’t noticed it before. She knew, then, if she could have Seen far enough away (though she found she had lost that ability for the moment), she would have been able to see Rico shining in a similar fashion, sitting on his bed in the dark, replaying the days events in his head.

The objective of her presence seemed to be getting clearer. “Yes,” she replied vaguely, still lost in her ruminations.

“Anna. What happened?” Sonny resisted the urge to snap his fingers in her face, unaware of the spectacle he presented to the angel, who was almost agog in her staring at him. “Are you going to tell me what’s up if I say I believe you?”

“I’m sorry, Sonny. You shine very brightly in this darkness.”

“...What?”

“I am not sure if I can explain. I am not sure, either, if I _should_ explain, now… You should know, the Third Call Echelon has issued me a test, and charged me with opposing a Pestilence.”

“Again...in English this time?”

“I apologize...there are many things that must not translate correctly. There is a great evil, and I have been tasked with it’s destruction-- well…” She trailed off and seemed to give Crockett a peculiar look before it was swept off her face by a determined gaze. She had made up her mind. “I am to be your guide,” She began. “You and your partner must be the ones to assail the darkness -- I think the Pestilence has infected men, and I cannot harm the humans, I can only Judge them...and even that, I think, has been restricted of me, now.”

Sonny sat in silence, still unclear on any of the things Anna was babbling about. When she talked about things he knew about, she seemed eerily aware of things normal people ought not to know... but then she’d go off and say something about her Echelon, or fighting darkness...and even though Sonny was on board with the whole “higher power” thing, he was still very close to jumping ship (figuratively) when it was all said and done. He put his hands up in a delaying guesture. “Can you start from the beginning -- Not _the beginning_ , of time, your time….or whatever, but, uh, when you first got into my car, I guess.”

“Do you not want your friend to hear me?” Anna inquired, tilting her head.

“Well -- no, I mean -- yes, I want him to be in on this but Rico’s left for the night. It’s pretty stormy out there. Unless you can control the weather I don’t think we’re going to want to go back out again.”

“The weather is a holy chaos, it can only be governed by the Highest of the Immaculate Calls -- The First Immaculate--”

“Right.” Sonny interrupted. “So, maybe this should wait until the morning. I’m just going to head out to the car and I’ll stay the night out there, so you can have the bed. You’ll be safe here, no one -- well, _almost_ no one knows about this boat. And, uh, there’s a guard of sorts up above.”

Anna had been aware of the animal, but made no comment on it. She shook her head. “He will guard you well, but your partner...Ricardo has no such sentinel.”

“Rico can handle himself,” Sonny laughed. “We thought of getting him a dog but that’s too high maintenance for him. We could surround his apartment with piranha, that’d go over well…”

Anna made to leave the bed and stand. “My Sight is limited now, and your guardian knows his job well. You may rest easy. I will return in the morning. Please, your bed if your own. I do not sleep.”

_As enigmatic as ever_ , Sonny thought wryly to himself. “Angels don’t need sleep, eh? How’re you going to get over there? You’d be blown off course.” He was joking, but Anna looked thoughtful at the statement.

“I do not think I can fly anymore,” She admitted. “It is not one of my Intrinsic abilities,” She closed her eyes, and after a moment, a pained look crossed her face. “I...am not very strong Intrinsically,” she said, eyes still closed. “I cannot See very far. I do not think I can travel there quickly, but I can move the quickest right now if I Flit.”

“Yeah? Flit?” Sonny barely had the question out of his mouth before the definition of that particular ability became clear. Anna had moved inhumanly fast and was standing by the stairs up to the deck of the boat. He found it strange to have Anna’s supernatural state confirmed again to him...he doubted it would be something he’d get used to, and he doubted there would be an end to the tricks Anna could do. ...He probably shouldn’t call them tricks to her face, though.

“Yes,” Anna said, her hand on the railing, as if she were about to climb above. “Do not worry, I can sense Rico even though I cannot See him. He seems well. I will talk to him. We will all talk in the morning.”

Sonny opened his mouth, but Anna had disappeared abruptly. In the new silence, all he heard was the clack of nails above him as Elvis the alligator shifted it’s weight around, likely basking in the rain.

 

\----

 

“Yeah, and she just suddenly decides to show up at my doorstep,” Rico continued, tearing off a small amount of toast and chewing energetically. He was over his cold and had the appetite to match a week of recovery, it seemed. Sonny sipped at his water, a crooked smile on his face. The two were waiting for Anna, who had apparently found it appropriate to find a change of clothes in an attempt to blend in better. Sonny had given her a $50 bill, and was wondering whether or not he should have supervised the spending of it when Anna appeared suddenly at Rico’s shoulder, distracting them both from the relay of the previous night's events.

“Are you … flitting? You can’t just _do_ that in public, I thought you had a code of secrecy.” Sonny muttered.

Anna shook her head earnestly. “I can See far enough not to attract attention, should I need to...as you say, 'lay low',” she said. “Here is your currency back,” she placed the same $50 on the table. Tubbs and Crockett stared at her incredulously for a moment.

“Did you steal the..?” Sonny asked, somewhat taken aback. He should have supervised the shopping trip, _he knew it_. Not that she didn’t apparently have good taste in clothing, but he didn’t suspect she would have _shoplifted_ it... There was another earnest shake of the head from Anna.

“ _Duplication_. I can duplicate Intrinsically,” Anna explained proudly, not noticing the detective’s baffled faces.

"Uh. Right. Again, we're going to need that in plain English." Crockett admonished.

Anna paused. She had been assuming they would understand her automatically... But then, she had only ever spoken to fellow Virtues and the rest of her angelic kin. They always knew exactly what you were talking about. She realised then that she couldn't speak to her First Contact duo as if she were speaking to equals, even if they would be held in higher regard than her by the other angels. She would have to start from the beginning, like Sonny had requested.

"Yes, I apologize...I will have a lot to explain, I am not sure where to start... I think I must start with explaining the Orders..."

“I know we agreed to help you blend in a bit better in order to fulfill your holy mission, or, you know, whatever it is you’re doing...but we can’t talk about all this in a public place, can we?” Rico looked around at their fellow breakfasters.

“There is no one actively trying to overhear us,” Anna replied, following Rico's gaze. “I also have little idea of how much time we have, but the Pestilence does not hesitate, and I cannot feel it moving at all -- though I know it is present. I would like to learn and teach, simultaneously.”

Sonny shrugged and motioned for Anna to sit down in front of a plate of assorted breakfast foods. “We get that you may be in a hurry, but you have to understand that this didn’t previously concern us. We have jobs upholding the law, and cover to maintain. As much as we want to help you defeat evil, we already have a lot of evil on our own plates to deal with.”

Anna ignored her eggs and bacon as Sonny assumed she would -- if she didn’t sleep, she probably didn’t eat, either -- and again, she nodded. “I am here not just to guide you, but to help you to oppose the darkness… whatever it is you must do before facing the Pestilence, I will assist you in it.”

Rico set his fork down. “As much as we could use the help, we’re going to have a really hard time explaining this one to Castillo.”

“Not to mention everyone else at the station.” Sonny added, a crooked smile on his face. “You can’t become invisible, can you?” He chuckled as Anna shook her head solemnly, not catching the snark in his voice.

“Well, we’ll need a cover story for you.” Rico said.

Sonny set his glass down suddenly and grinned. "Actually, she _could_ be a consultant," He said. Rico's face lit up and he nodded. "Right?" Sonny continued, "I mean, we can go two ways with that; we _are_ actually consulting her on this plague..parasite..."

"Pestilence," Anna offered.

"Right, that. I mean we'll have to have her help if we're going to...well, do whatever it is we're supposed to--"

"You need to sway the heart of the shadowed human, so that I may purge the Pestilence residing within."

"O- _kay_.... We'll get to that in a moment." Crockett picked up the bill that had just been left on the table for their breakfast, hoping the waitress hadn't just overheard their conversation. He looked at Anna's plate. She hadn't touched a thing. He sighed, checked the total, and fished out his wallet. Rico laid a finger on the edge of Anna's plate.

"You gonna finish that?" He asked. Anna stared at the plate as if she had only just noticed it.

"Ah, I am not...hungry." She said after a moment.

"Great," Rico said, and dug in quickly.

 

\----

 

Castillo gave his customary scrutinizing gaze to the duo as they entered his office with Anna in tow. Sonny flipped his wayfarers closed and hung them in his shirt, then turned and ushered Anna further into the office so the door could be shut. Anna stood somewhat formally, and Sonny wished she'd learn to loosen up. He tried to corral his worries off into a corner of his brain.

_Just...act as normal and as human as possible. Even if we've only spent about 2 hours answering questions and addressing your quirks...Which raised a lot more questions than it answered, in any case._

"We're bringing on a consultant." Rico started.

"The Florecs tip-off?" Castillo asked. Sonny resisted cringing. Anna's cover rested on her being an escaped relative of Florecs', seeking protective custody, who could supposedly give them reliable intel on people in Florec's inner circle before finally being inducted into the witness protection program. If it turned out that Florecs _wasn't_ a major player, or if someone caught on that they weren't actually putting through paperwork for Anna on WITSEC, their fragile web of lies might collapse. Sonny had no idea if Castillo would buy into the whole angels and demons thing, and the pair of detectives could think of no other cleaner way to both include Anna in their day to day operations.

 


End file.
